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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.

SUMMARY: This group of fragments discuss the marriage of Gods and the equality of Hera and Zeus.

163. σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 31a (I 450, 20 Diehl):

ὁ δὲ δημιουγὸς αὐτός, ὁ μέγιστος Ζεύς, συζογεῖ τῆι Ἥραι· διὸ καὶ ἰσοτελὴς αὐτῶι καλεῖται, καὶ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν προεληλύθασι πατέρων.

“But the Demiurgus, who is the great Jupiter (Ζεὺς), is conjoined with Juno (Ἥρα). Hence also, she is said to be of equal rank with him, and proceeds from the same fathers.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

Compare in σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 18 c (I 46, 27 Diehl) which can be found within fragment 132.

And in σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 41 d (III 248, 29 Diehl):

πρόεισί τις ἀπ' αὐτῆς μία θεότης ζῳογόνος, πηγὴ πάσης τῦς τῶν ψυχῶν προόδου καὶ ἀπογεννήσεως, ἣ καὶ τῷ δημιουργῷ συνταττομένη συνυφίστησιν αὐτῷ τὸν ψυχικὸν ὅλον διάκοσμον, πᾶσαν μὲν τὴν | ^{249 Diehl} ὑπερκόσμιον ἀπογεννῶσα ψυχήν, πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν ἐγκόσμιον, προϊοῦσα δὲ ἐπὶ πάντα καὶ ζωιοποιοῦσα καὶ τὸν ὅλον κόσμον, ἣν ὁ μὲν Ὀρφεὺς ἰσοτελῆ τῶι δημιουργῶι (Schneid.] δημιουργικῶι codd.) καλεῖ καὶ συνάπτει καὶ συζεύξας μίαν ποιεῖ μητέρα πάντων ὧν ὁ Ζεὺς πατήρ . . . . .

“...one certain vivific deity (Ἥρᾱ) proceeds from it, which is the fountain of all the progression and generation of souls, (and which being co-arranged with the Demiurgus, produces together with him, the whole psychical order,) every supermundane and mundane soul, and proceeds to all things, and vivifies the whole world. Orpheus celebrates this vivific deity as equal to the Demiurgus, and connecting and conjoining it with him, makes it to be the one mother of all the things of which Jupiter (Ζεὺς) is the father.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

Lobeck I 539.

Ὀρφεὺς ἐν τῶι περὶ Διὸς καὶ Ἥρας (“Orpheus in [a text] concerning Zeus and Hera”) see fragment 115;

Compare to Dion. Prus. XXXVI 56 (II 15, 24 Arn.):

τοῦτον ὑμνοῦσι παῖδες σοφῶν ἐν ἀρρήτοις τελεταῖς Ἥρας καὶ Διὸς εὐδαίμονα γάμον

“This, the children of the wise, were singing in the sacred (or “unspoken” ἀρρήτοις) rites, of the happy marriage of Íra (Ἥρα) and Zefs (Ζεὺς).”

(trans. by the author)

And σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 18 c. d. (I 49, 12 Diehl):

ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ τὴν αὐτὴν ἑτέροις ἢ τὸν αὐτὸν πλείοσι συζεύγνυσθαι λάβοις ἂν ἐκ των μυστικών λόγων και των εν απορρήτοις λεγομένων ιερών γάμων, οἷς καὶ ὁ Πλάτων εἰς δύναμιν εξομοιῶν τὰ περὶ τοὺς πολίτας καὶ τοὺς τούτων γάμους ἱεροὺς γάμους προσηγόρευσε (Resp. V 458 e).

“For that the same Goddess is conjoined with different Gods, or the same God with many Goddesses, may be assumed from mystical treatises, and from what are called Sacred Marriages in the Mysteries, which Plato as much as possible imitating in what he ordains about politics and marriages, calls the marriages sacred.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

Lobeck I 366. 539. 607; Giseke 79; Schuster 15 n. 2; Gruppe Suppl. 701; Dieterich Nekyia² 104 n. 3.

The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.

We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.

Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.

Introduction to the Thæí (the Gods): The Nature of the Gods.

How do we know there are Gods? Experiencing Gods.

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We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.

Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.

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